Oral History @ VT: Oral History Collections (A-M)

Appalachian Oral History Project, 1986-1991 (Ms1993-025)
Most interviews in this collection were gathered as part of a 1991 Appalachian Community Studies class led by Professor Jean Speer of the Department of Humanities at Virginia Tech. The collection contains cassette tapes, tape logs, and in some cases, student papers associated with the 23 interviews conducted with 25 individual interviewees from the local community.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
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Appalachian Quilt Project Cassette Tapes, 1978-1979 (Ms1981-097)
This oral history project was conducted by the Department of Clothing, Textiles, and Related Art at Virginia Tech. The collection consists of recorded interviews with 43 anonymous quilt makers in Floyd County, Virginia and Washington County, Virginia.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
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Black Appalachians Oral History Project (Ms1991-019)
The Black Appalachians Oral History Project consists of a series of interviews conducted by Dr. Michael Cooke of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University concerning black life in Appalachia, especially in Montgomery County, Virginia. The narrators represent communities such as Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Elliston, Riner, Shawsville, and Wake Forest.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
Finding Aid | Visit the digital collection at SCUA Online

Black Women at Virginia Tech Oral History Project (Ms1995-026)
This multi-phase research and educational collaborative program of the University Libraries and the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech consists of interviews conducted between 1994 and 2000 with some of the first black women students at Virginia Tech, the first black homecoming queen at Virginia Tech, and the first black woman in the Corps of Cadets. Included among the materials are oral history recordings, transcripts, and photographs.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
Finding Aid | Visit the digital collection at SCUA Online

Blacksburg Oral History Project Records, 1984-1985 (Ms1985-005)
This collection consists of recordings and transcripts of oral history interviews conducted by the University Libraries at Virginia Tech with residents of Blacksburg about the town's history.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
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Blue Ridge Parkway Folklore Project Records (Ms1986-009)
This collection includes records from an oral history project conducted by the American Folklife Center in cooperation with the National Park Service. The project surveyed folk cultural traditions along the Blue Ridge Parkway, particularly along a 100-mile stretch from Rocky Knob, Virginia to Doughton Park, North Carolina. Included among the collection are interview tapes, photographs, field notes, and administrative records from 1978-1979. The Library of Congress holds a more extensive collection of materials related to this project.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
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Books that Made the Difference Project Collection (Ms1985-003)
This collection consists of subject files, clippings, correspondence, manuscript drafts, and audio-visual materials. The project was conceived in 1980 by Ann Heidbreder Eastman, a Publishing Staff Officer at Virginia Tech, and executed by Professor Gordon A. Sabine of the Department of Communication at Virginia Tech, and his wife Patricia. Professor Sabine and his wife interviewed people across the country, asking what book made the greatest difference in their lives, and what that difference was. The responses were collected for Books That Made the Difference: What People Told Us, published by Shoe String Press in 1983. The theme of "Books Make a Difference" has been, and still is, used by public libraries for public relations campaigns. Noteworthy aspects of the collection include the 1983 book and the 1985 abridged version published by the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the original cassette tapes used by the Sabines to record the interviews.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
Finding Aid

Christiansburg Industrial Institute Oral History Project (Ms2019-037)
This collection consists of oral history recordings, transcripts, field notes, and other assorted documents produced by the students of Professor David Cline in the Fall of 2012 in association with their interviews with former students of CI about their childhoods, the African-American community in Southwest Virginia, the student experience at CI, the quality of CI’s curriculum and how it prepared students for further education and the workforce, the eventual closing of the school, and subsequent preservation efforts via the Christiansburg Institute Alumni Association and Christiansburg Institute, Inc.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
Finding Aid | Visit the digital collection at SCUA Online

College of Education History Records (Ms1990-026)
This collection is built on the work of the students of Professor Patrick Carlton of the College of Education at Virginia Tech in November and December of 1989, and consists of oral history recordings, notes, transcripts, correspondence, and reports detailing the history of the College of Education.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
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Crown Cotton Mills [Dalton, Georgia] Oral History Tapes, 1984-1985 (Ms1988-023)
This collection consists of oral history interview recordings conducted by Professor J. Douglas Flamming with employees of the Crown Cotton Mills in Dalton, a textile town in the Appalachian Valley of Northwest Georgia. Most interviewees worked for Crown between 1920 and 1960. This collection is largely unprocessed.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
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Denim Day 40th Anniversary Oral History Collection (Ms2019-022)
This collection includes oral history accounts of the first Denim Day event, a key moment in LGBTQ+ history at Virginia Tech, in January 1979.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
Finding Aid | Visit the digital collection at SCUA Online

Department of Biochemistry Oral History Collection (Ms2003-009)
This collection consists of oral history recordings, transcripts, photographs, and documentation associated with the 50th anniversary celebration for the Department of Biochemistry at Virginia Tech. Interviews were conducted between October 2001 and June 2002 and interviewees include department heads, faculty, and staff who played important roles in the founding and development of the department.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
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Hidden History: The Black Experience in the Roanoke Valley (Ms1992-049)
This oral history project, conducted jointly by the Harrison Museum for African-American Culture in Roanoke, Virginia and the University Libraries of Virginia Tech, explores the cultural, social, and political histories of African-American residents of Roanoke, Virginia during the twentieth century. The collection consists of approximately 56 recordings and 40 interview transcripts.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
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James J. Pandapas Audiotape and Papers, 1966-1988, 1997 (Ms1997-011)
This collection consists of oral history recordings, transcripts, newspaper clippings, and assorted documents related to the life of James J. Pandapas, whose companies, Electro-Tec and Poly-Scientific, and residential developments, including Airport Acres and Highland Park, were instrumental in the development of the Blacksburg area.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
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John Nicolay Papers (Ms1987-027)
This collection consists of the records used by John Nicolay, a former Blacksburg, Virginia resident and historian, in his research on blacks, local churches, poverty in Montgomery County, Virginia, and the Edie Family of Christiansburg, Virginia. Included among the materials are several oral history interviews with regional residents.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
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John V. Becker Papers (Ms1990-052)
This collection contains correspondence, notes, memoranda, and other materials related to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Most materials in this collection relate specifically to the X-1, X-15, X-20 (or Dyna-Soar) programs. Included in the collection are transcripts of oral history interviews. Transcripts only.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
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Martha Dillard Audiocassette Tapes, 1992 (Ms1998-027)
This collection contains oral history interviews conducted by artist Martha Dillard in connection with Watershed: Three Views of the Land, an exhibition of Dillard's paintings of the Ellett Valley in Montgomery County, Virginia.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
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Marvin Blecher Audiocassette Tape, 1998 (Ms1998-017)
On this tape is an oral history interview conducted by Virginia Tech student Christina Roemer with Dr. Marvin Blecher and Freda Blecher of Blacksburg, Virginia, about their involvement in the Jewish community in the town and the Hillel student organization at Virginia Tech, for which Dr. Blecher served as faculty advisor.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of this oral history interview.
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Michael Collins Papers, 1907-2004 (Ms1989-029)
This collection contains materials from the life of Michael Collins, pilot, astronaut, Assistant Secretary of State, Director of the National Air and Space Museum, and author. Included in this collection are two oral history interviews, one for the 1998 Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, and one for the 2003 Centennial of Flight Oral History Project.
Currently, restrictions allow only on-site use of the oral histories in this collection.
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Multicultural Diversity Oral History Collection (Ms2002-001)
This collection includes 23 interviews conducted in the early 2000s with interviewees from diverse backgrounds with some connection to Virginia Tech or Blacksburg.
This collection is open for research, with the exception of some restricted materials not available to the public.
Finding Aid | Visit the digital collection at SCUA Online